Members of the public will be able to scrutinise the levels of crime on their
doorstep more closely after the Government’s crime-mapping website was
expanded.

Police.uk users can now personalise their own crime maps to check the safety of specific areas, such as their estate, village or route to work.

The "Draw Your Own Area" function has been launched on the two-year anniversary of the website, which has received more than half a billion hits since it went live.

The website, which received an average 365,000 hits a day in January alone, crashed just hours after its launch in February 2011, leaving millions of users frustrated.

Policing minister Damian Green said: "There is a huge appetite for transparency and information across the criminal justice system and we are responding by enhancing the information provided on Police.uk.

"These changes mean members of the public will have even more tailored information at their fingertips to hold their local police to account and ensure crime continues to be driven down."